45Removal and disposal of abandoned articles

45 Removal and disposal of abandoned articles

(1)  *[Section 45 Subsection (1) amended by No. 30 of 1995, s. 3 and Sched. 1 ]*This section does not apply to a carcase that, pursuant to Division 3 of Part 5 of the Local Government (Building and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993 , it is the duty of the corporation to remove from the highway.

(2)  In this section –

article includes a vehicle or trailer, a part or component of a vehicle or trailer, and the carcase of an animal;

owner, when used in relation to an article removed from a highway under this section, means a person who, at the time the article was so removed, had any property in the article and the legal personal representative of a person who was the owner of that article.

(3)  [Section 45 Subsection (3) amended by No. 90 of 1999, Sched. 1, Applied:14 Aug 2000] [Section 45 Subsection (3) amended by No. 90 of 1999, Sched. 1, Applied:14 Aug 2000] [Section 45 Subsection (3) amended by No. 90 of 1999, Sched. 1, Applied:14 Aug 2000] Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (2) , where an article removed from a highway under this section is a motor vehicle or trailer within the meaning of the Vehicle and Traffic Act 1999 or is a part or component of such a vehicle or trailer, the person who, within the meaning of that Act, was the registered operator of that motor vehicle or trailer at the time it was so removed, or, if the motor vehicle or trailer of which the article was a part or component had remained in existence, would then have been its registered operator, shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to be an owner of that article.

(4)  Where it appears to the corporation that an article has, without lawful authority, been abandoned on a highway under local management, it may remove the article from the highway.

(5)  Where an article has been removed from a highway under this section, the corporation may, subject to this section, dispose of it in such manner as it thinks fit –